Day 18 Thankfulness

We only get one of these, and I’m happy to say I made the most of it. Today was just one of those good days, you know? Since I’ve started grad school, I haven’t had many really good days, so today is really a blessing. As I think about it, the reason today was so good is that I purposefully did things that make me happy. I spoiled myself, on account of a cancelled class this afternoon and I’ve been busting my chops all week. I slept in (sort of, I got up when Joe left for work), I drank hot tea while I read a great book (http://bobgoff.com/lovedoes/). I also made my favorite breakfast in the whole wide world: an egg and cheese sandwich. I have a pretty serious love affair with all things breakfast, but the egg and cheese sandwich is by far my favorite. From working at Corrigan’s Cafe while in high school, I can proudly boast the most perfect breakfast sandwich, no exaggeration. I also cleaned the apartment, worked on a group presentation, and went for a nice run. What a nice day!

I realize that I don’t usually choose to do things that make me happy, I just do what I can to get by or make everything happen in time. Graduate school is definitely a balancing act, and I haven’t been very good at it in the past couple of months, and my happiness has taken a hit. The upside is that I can fix this. I can make the decision to choose things that make me happy. Why hold out on myself, there’s really no point to that. Instead, I can choose to do small things that make me happy, like eating well (not eating junk, but eating the good stuff instead, like some really dark chocolate instead of fake cheese puffs) and running and drinking lots of hot tea and reading and journaling – those things make me happy, and are easy to incorporate into my daily life. But so often, I choose what’s most convenient, and slowly but surely, it makes me unhappy.

So choose happiness today, every day. And ask yourself if you’ve done anything lately that made you happy.